It was all the way back in August of last summer when it was announced that Jason Bateman had urged that his next film, Identity Thief, be rewritten so that he could have Melissa McCarthy as his co-star. But while that specialized bit of casting was interesting, the project has been completely without update since, with no forward progress to be seen. Well, it's starring to rev its engine.
Variety has learned that Amanda Peet has nabbed a role in the upcoming comedy. Directed by Seth Gordon, whose credits include the documentary King of Kong and last summer's hit Horrible Bosses, the film's storyline is largely being kept under wraps, but is about a man (Bateman) whose identity is stolen by a woman (McCarthy). The trade doesn't specify what role Peet will play in the movie. Most recently the actress has been working on the new NBC comedy Bent, starring alongside Jeffrey Tambor, and was last seen on the big screen in the disasterous Rob Letterman-directed Gulliver's Travels. She also plays a part in the untitled upcoming Terence Malick project along with Ben Affleck, Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams and Jessica Chastain. Identity Thief's first draft was written by Steve Conrad (The Weather Man, The Pursuit of Happyness) and the rewrite was done by Craig Mazin (The Hangover Part II, Superhero Movie).
I remember a time in the mid-aughts when you couldn't step into a movie theater without seeing Amanda Peet's face, and while she's not as ubiquitous now it's still nice to see her on screen. Now if only we knew what part she had.
